Shaun O’Boyle, Photographs of “The Boatyard,” Arthur Kill, New Jersey
I was directed today to the website of an outstanding photographer named Shaun O’Boyle. Shaun has found a niche in recording the demise of industrial areas that have been abandoned. His photo essay about the tugboat graveyard in New Jersey is an astonishing work of imagery. He has captured the essence of the transition from the maritime world of the past.
The tugs and ferry boats that served the waters of New York Harbor have come to rest as rotting hulks in Arthur Kill, New Jersey. There are hundreds of these vessels locked in the mud, rotting to their keels and stringers. It is a sad sight, yet the observer knows that there are thousands of stories told of these vessels in the watering holes frequented by sailors of this bygone era.
As a child growing up in New York, my family would occasionally drive by this area on our way to the New Jersey Turnpike. My father and I would look down on this site from the “Outer Bridge Crossing”and know that one day we should turn off the road and have a look. I never have had the chance to do this. It would be a sad trip through a forgotten place in time.
Shaun O’Boyle’s work is not to be missed. Click on the link at left to be taken to his site. The photo essay on Arthur Kill is called “The Boat Yard.”
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